The present invention relates generally to means for gaining access to boats from a position in the water surrounding the boat and more particularly to a ramp for gaining access to a small boat by an animal, such as a hunting dog, with an optional capability of gaining access to a small boat by a human being.
Ease of access from the water surrounding a boat into the boat by a person or an animal has proven to be a problem, particular where the water is not shallow and the human or animal cannot use the water bottom to aid in boarding the boat. This problem is particularly notable with respect to gaining access to canoes or small boats such as those used by duck hunters. A boat will move and roll with each movement of the person or animal attempting to gain access to the boat. Vertical ladders have been used in some applications for access by humans, but ladders cannot be readily used by four-legged animals, such as hunting dogs. Other types of ladders or ramps, such as the horizontal boarding device of U.S. Pat. No. 3,587,123 or the inclined ladder of U.S. Pat. No. 3,891,053, have attempted to make access to a boat easier, but have several practical problems which prevent their efficacy and universal use for both humans and animals.
Hunters that shoot over water generally have facilitated retrieval of the game, such as ducks, that they have shot by the use of a dog to find the game, acquire it, and bring it to the hunter in the boat. Generally, a dog is trained to retain the game in its mouth until the dog is into the boat. The dog is usually incapable of boarding the boat without assistance from the hunter. Since duck hunting season occurs generally in temperature climates when the water is very cold, at least in the more northern climates, the hunter must not only risk getting wet from the animal itself, but also places himself dangerously over the boat edge to lift the dog over the rail of the boat and faces the potential problem of landing in the water himself.
The dog, in turn, is handled in a very uncomfortable manner as it is grabbed by the hunter and physically lifted into the boat. Throughout this process, the hunter also has to worry about not displacing any other objects in the boat, such as his gun, food pack, etc., which may fall into the water as the boat rolls and jostles its cargo.
Dog ladders, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,891,053, have not functioned adequately and still need the aid of the hunter. It has been determined in development of the present invention that as soon as a dog touches any part of the boat or any kind of ramp ("touch point"), its hind legs drop deeper into the water. The dog's "touch point" is generally at or below the water level. With a ramp such as that shown by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,891,053 or 3,587,123, the dog will drop its hind legs deeper into the water as soon as it touches the ramp with its front paws and will not be able to climb the ramp without aid of the hunter unless the advantages of the present invention are provided.
The present invention provides a ramp fitted to a variety of hunting dogs which provides easy access to the hunter's boat from any direction relative to the boat. Also, the present invention permits the dog to have access to the boat without any aid needed for the hunter. The present invention is designed so that the hunter may be positioned anywhere in the boat, although the invention works optimally if the hunter sits on the opposite side of the boat that the ramp is attached. In fact, the hunter need not even be in the boat that the dog is boarding, in case game is being hunted from one position and the dog returns the game to a boat in a second position for storage during the hunt.
The present invention also has the advantage that the ramp may be used as a portable stand in shallow water since it is capable of standing alone in a self-supporting manner on the bottom of the watershed either connected or unconnected to the boat if the water is shallower than the height of the ramp.
To be effective, the ramp of the present invention is also light weight and portable. Also, the ramp is adjustable to accommodate various types of boats in relation to various types and sizes of dogs. All of the above features are offered in a ramp that also facilitates boarding a small boat or canoe by humans. With humans, the device is even more effective with a slightly larger boat, such as a ski boat, where due to the weight and larger size of the boat, counterbalance is not a consideration.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.